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Super Falcons and Medkila IL goalkeeper Tochukwu Oluehi says the side's victory in the final of the 10th Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) in Cameroon came as a surprise.

Falcons pipped the Indomitable Lionesses 1-0 in Saturday’s AWCON final at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé to claim their eighth African title.

Forward Desire Oparanozie scored the all-important goal in the 85th minute to hand the side two successive final wins against the Central Africans.

Oluehi said the time has come for Nigerians to take their all-conquering winning mentality in the continent to the world stage.

“Sincerely, I did not see Super Falcons winning the title at the expense of the hosts, mainly because of the home advantage factor.

“I experienced the 'host’ factor in 2008 in Equatorial Guinea, the referee did everything to ensure the Equatorial Guinean side won the championship so I feared a similar thing would happen again in Cameroon.

“However, the referees today (Saturday) proved themselves to be true unbiased umpires, they handled the match perfectly well not minding who the hosts are in the clash.

“The referees took the final match to the highest level and I think African women football is the biggest gainers.

“Falcons have seen everything in Africa; I think time has come for them to take their exploits to the World Cup, we must up our game further to achieve the landmark.

“Cameroon proved that they wanted to win the final clash for the first time with every intent and purpose, they put Falcons under unbearable pressure throughout the game.

“I think hard luck was their greatest undoing, we had just one chance and made it count positively, I say kudos to theFalcons,” said the former Rivers Angels and Sunshine Queens shot stopper to supersport.com.